MADRID, SPAIN - APRIL 24: Emma Raducanu of Great Britain reacts in her match against Maria Lourdes ... [+]
There are moments when ‘old’ Emma Raducanu comes back in all its glory. The 18-year-old who shocked the tennis world is now trying to mature into a proper player. Too often, the whole package unravels to illustrate that the long haul of a seven-day or two-week business event is too much to take on for the 2021 U.S. Open champion. Losing 6-2 6-2 to Argentine qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle in the first round of the Madrid Open was another case in point.
"I do love moving on clay, sliding, I find it very fun. It's interesting, I think it's different," Raducanu told the LTA before the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers against France this April. Sure enough, she beat Diane Parry in a performance that ranked as one of her best since that ultimate Flushing Meadows moment.
Hopes were raised even further that the Briton had rediscovered her joie de vivre after a promising run at the Stuttgart Open where she defeated World No.31 Linda Noskova and former major champion Angelique Kerber for the loss of just eight games. The 21-year-old was even bright against Iga Swiatek before succumbing in a first set tie-break. These were moments and matches that encapsulated the very best of the dominant and free-swinging Raducanu, a sight that hasn’t been seen much since Leylah Fernandez and the rest were blown away three years ago.
Future life can’t be fueled by one retrospective event and Raducanu knows that more than anyone. She had surgery on both hands and her left ankle last May to miss the next eight months before returning at the Auckland Classic. "I feel reborn in a way. I feel fresh, I feel ready, I feel happy and I feel excited. Overall, I'm feeling positive and lighter. I think that for two years after the U.S. Open, I felt maybe a bit more weight on my shoulders, but now I feel completely fresh,” she insisted at the time.
The doubts always recycled have more to do with Raducanu’s physicality rather than any mental scars about painful defeats. Given that she was catapulted to the top by the freedom of virtual anonymity and the ability to frighten her opponents with her most unburdened A-game, the question was always going to center around the physical grind of the tour. In 2023, she withdrew from the Madrid Open entirely because of her ongoing wrist problems as the struggles of elite tennis caught her cold. One year later, she was on court but appeared to check out early.
The resilience and output needed to consistently consolidate or improve a ranking are not there at the moment. They are in the very words that the World No. 221 spoke after the loss against the Argentine in Spain. “I think from the performance today it was very clear that mentally and emotionally I was exhausted.
"I was trying to push through and I was just unable to push through today. I guess the sport is just pretty brutal,” she said. Her off-field earnings were $15 million last year. The brutality threshold needs to be higher on the court.
The mitigating circumstances here –the exhaustion of some moderate successes in Germany and high points on her least favorite surface – cannot always lead to an explanation like that. The admittance that she is spent is transparent and makes for good headlines. Ultimately, it gives more signs to future opponents. Raducanu’s meter and maybe even spirit, has limited supply currently.
Her Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothovang questioned her charge's effort against Lourdes Carle during commentary on Sky Sports.
“Emma the professional did not show up and when you do that, you don’t stand a chance. The final return was: ‘Get me off the court.’ She just wasn’t in a mindset where she was competing,” Keothovang claimed. There was a bit of the ‘I’m a tennis player, get me out of here’ about how Britain’s only female singles champion since Virginia Wade in 1977 went about things.
STUTTGART, GERMANY - APRIL 17: Emma Raducanu of Great Britain in action against Angelique Kerber of ... [+]
Despite Raducanu’s inability to handle three huge tournaments back to back, she has learned a lesson about scheduling. Trying to back up relative success in previous tournaments has been one of her major issues. Before being beaten by Swiatek, the British No.6 had won four consecutive matches for the first time since New York.
Emma Raducanu isn't a kid anymore but she recently reunited with her junior coach Nick Cavaday to spark the fire again. Her form has picked up but she needs a body for the long haul. That's a work in progress.
